Mendians
The Mendians are an extinct race of Reptillian aliens that lived in the Gauss Galaxy up until near the end of the space conflict era. Due to them being extinct and their home world obliterated by Kathidium, and no uncorrupted genetic material relating to their race has been found. Biology The Mendians had long, slender bodies which can flex in a wide variety of directions suggesting they may have been on the evolutionary path to becoming a serpentine race, covered in fine, flexible scales. They did however possess long, thin limbs suited to their homeworld's low gravity. Their heads contained a pair of of organs called Echalls which functioned as their ears, but could also vibrate and sense vibrations on infrasonic frequencies allowing them a means of nonverbal communication with one another, but allowed them to sense vibrations when hunting or being hunted on their home planet. This was also the primary means to tell male and female Mendians, for the male's Echalls would stick out mostly straight from either side of the head while the female's would curve upward, though this didn't impact the organ's functionality. The Echalls were also used in attracting mates. Form, symmetry and proportion of the Echalls were often high indicators of attractiveness and genetic fitness, and the Echalls could be used to emit specific infrasonic frequencies targeted at another to trigger sexual urges. Mendians also possessed chameleon skin. This skin had molecules which could stretch and distort to assume a wide variety of colors based on the natural lighting of an environment, and could even adopt different textures or patterns based on their surroundings. A few Mendians were said to have conscious control over this ability and could change their colors at will with such precision that some could project text or imagery on various parts of their body. History and Culture Mendian culture was highly pacifistic, even more so than that of the Go'shii, and they were very accepting of other species beliefs. Because of this they got along well with other species but were easily taken advantage of, and this was what resulted in their culture's downfall. Their culture placed a strong focus on art, science, literature and education, and a number of famous dominion art movements were instigated by Mendians. With their culture so interested in appropriating elements from other cultures they produced music and visual arts with elements or methods from other cultures, or by combining them. (To various levels of reception to the original culture(s) that had been appropriated from.) They were also known to use various forms of performance art involving their skin-color-changing abilities and what led many members of the species to hone this ability. Architecture was also important. All Mendian buildings, even those meant purely for utility such as factories and warehouses were always made in artful, exotic and organic shapes. This was because rigidly designed structures were very irritating and disruptive to their echalls. The combination of art and science that went into these builds went so far as to turn this problem into a blessing, with artist - architects designing buildings to have excellent acoustics when echoing the signals put out by their echalls, earning their constructions the name the "Singing Towers." With their focus on education, Mendinans would frequently change professions and retain a course of lifelong learning. From a young age their parents would teach them basic math, science and history and then they would be encouraged to branch out and discover their true passion. Many Mendians tended to drift between careers and professions throughout their life, often not working very long in one field before deciding to explore another. Nevertheless their education systems and teaching methods were very effective, often with a focus on kinesthetic learning. Mendians were also staunch protectors of natural environments, always wanting to colonize in a manner that would be non-destructive to the natural environment. This philosophy often crossed with their interest in other species. It was because of this that they never colonized outside of a few hundred light years of their home planet, wishing to leave the galaxy in its natural state. They would frequently venture to other species, requesting education in a particular field of art or science in exchange for sharing some of their own knowledge about a subject. They would then proceed to broker that knowledge to other species in exchange for more. It was this brokering of knowledge, language and science which was the only thing that gave their species some amount of economic backbone. Extinction The Mendinas had a large portion of their population wiped out during the Space Conflict era, when their planets and orbital habitats across hundreds of systems were destroyed by the Cauldarions of house Sol Gragnus and house Tek'tikdera after it was learned that the Mendians had broken a promise not to spread information regarding several metal alloys to the Katharians. This severely reduced their numbers and the remainder of the Mendians fled into Katharian space. However they did not receive adequate housing or aide after the destruction of their homeworlds, and with many refugees living on the comparatively wetter Katharian worlds several types of fungus adapted to grow on their skin and in their lungs and organs, for which the Katharians could not provide ample aide into curing. One of these forms of fungus, called the Klosnia Fungus grew inside the male Mendian's reproductive organs rendering them infertile. These infectious plagues continued to weaken and fragment their society, and with the Klosnia fungus, their population continued to trickle down. During the outbreak of Kathidium, the Katharians prioritized the evacuation of themselves over the Mendians leaving them behind to be overtaken by Kathidium. By the Conclusion of the Kathidium Incident and the founding of the Gauss Dominion, the Mendian population had dwindled from nearly 500 Trillion down to tens of thousands. Many of the scattered Mendinas attempted to regroup and found communities in the peacetime that followed, however with their homeworld ravaged, and the Klosnia fungus present (and without a cure being derived) their ability to reproduce was limited, and before long all male Mendians were infertile. The last Mendians died out around 250DE, though some live on as some of the older Cies or aspects of Sacodias. Category:Aliens